Made & Grown: The Future of Food
This powerful collaborative event hosted over 150 people from government, industry, research, funders and investors, which was described as phenomenal, and buzzed with excitement as everyone used this wonderful opportunity to connect, share ideas and discuss what the future of food could look like.
The day was filled with thought provoking and informative sessions on biotechnologies, applications and policy imperative, agriculture in bioeconomy, innovations in biomanufacturing, the sector challenges and opportunities.
Balanced with ample time for opportunistic networking and exciting future food taste testing, Made & Grown: The Future of Food really did demonstrate the value of bringing together the right people from industry, government and research in agricultural and food biotechnology. It showcased how strong Australia’s food innovation ecosystem is and the opportunity for Australia to lead the global shift in sustainable food innovation.
The Made & Grown white paper: Made & Grown - The Future of Food: The role of biotechnology & biomanufacturing in Australia examines how food biotechnology and biomanufacturing can strengthen Australia’s food security, national resilience, and agricultural competitiveness by integrating emerging technologies with traditional farming systems.
Watch this space and follow us on LinkedIn for updates, learnings and next steps.
Made and Grown: The Future of Food | One Year On
In August 2025, Made and Grown: The Future of Food brought together leaders from government, industry and research to explore how Australia can build a stronger, more innovative, and more resilient food production system. The event highlighted the growing potential of biomanufacturing to transform food production while strengthening Australia's sovereign capability, regional economies and national resilience. One year later, that conversation has evolved into tangible progress, with several recommendations from the resulting white paper helping to shape ongoing discussions around food security, industry development and research translation.
In the video below, AFII Director Professor Owen Atkin and Cellular Agriculture Australia CEO Sam Perkins reflect on the impact of Made and Grown: The Future of Food and the developments that have followed. The discussion explores how global disruptions and supply chain challenges have reinforced the importance of food, fuel and fertiliser security, while also highlighting the critical role that emerging biomanufacturing technologies can play in addressing these challenges. Government investment, industry engagement and research collaboration are increasingly aligning around the shared goal of building Australia's long-term resilience.
The conversation also examines the opportunity for Australia to translate its world-class research capabilities into real-world outcomes. From synthetic biology and crop innovation to new manufacturing pathways, Australia's research sector is creating technologies with the potential to deliver economic growth, regional jobs and enhanced national capability. Realising these opportunities will require continued investment in infrastructure, research translation and partnerships that connect scientists, industry leaders and policymakers.
As Australia looks to the future, the themes that emerged from Made and Grown: The Future of Food remain as relevant as ever. Strengthening food systems, developing sovereign capability and ensuring that innovation delivers benefits beyond the laboratory will be central to the nation's success. Watch the full discussion below for reflections on the progress made over the past year and insights into what comes next for Australia's growing bioeconomy.
Made and Grown Gallery
Reflection by Victoria Taylor
Made and Grown on LinkedIn
Conference Details
The program involved a range of curated panels, engaging presentations, and deep fireside discussions. You can download the program here or view the interactive version below.
The opening session will set the scene for the conversations - introducing you to the science and technologies covered across the day, and why they are important in securing the future of our economy and food system.
A panel exploring the interplay between biotechnology, sovereign capability, and building a larger and more resilient economy. The panel will also explore how biotechnologies and food production intersect with national security.
Biotechnology is already transforming traditional agricultural crops. In this session, we'll explore current innovations in crop biotechnology, both in producing new products and enhancing climate resilience, while keeping one eye on the future as new technologies emerge. You'll hear how these technologies are being commercialised and the benefits these production methods could have on regional economic growth.
A facilitated discussion exploring the ways agricultural crops are driving the creation of new, novel and functional ingredients, and how they are being commercialised in agrifood settings.
Cellular agriculture companies are already integrating across the food system to create new products or improve existing ones. We'll dive deep and look at how Australian companies are reducing production costs, and increasing yield through innovations in advanced biomanufacturing and process design. This session will also showcase the depth and width of the cellular agriculture supply chain as specialist B2B providers start to emerge to further improve performance.
This panel explores how cellular agriculture ingredients and products can be integrated across the food system to boost product performance and supply chain resilience. We’ll highlight the versatility of these technologies in creating everything from high-value ingredients to scalable commodity inputs and final food products.
As the cellular agriculture sector matures, infrastructure and manufacturing methods are being refined to drive efficiencies. On this panel, hear how bioreactors are being redesigned and bioprocesses optimised to drive down CapEx requirements and COGS for key technologies like precision fermentation and cell cultivation.
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A panel discussion exploring the evolution of specialist B2B suppliers across the cellular agriculture industry. This panel will not only showcase the breadth of the ecosystem in Australia but also the role specialist suppliers will play in supporting the scale and commercial viability of cellular agriculture products.
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This session will explore the policy, research and financial settings required to realise Australia's regional advantage and build sovereign capability in food biomanufacturing and the bioeconomy.
A presentation on the findings from a brand new GFI APAC study that examines the competitiveness of key APAC countries, including Australia, Thailand and Vietnam, to be commercial food biomanufacturing hubs. It highlights what Australia needs to do to position itself as a regional or global leader in the future of food biomanufacturing.
Looking at the support, signals and finance mechanisms needed to enable Australia to postion itself as a leader in biomanufacturing and build economic growth and resilience as a result.
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